Category: Book Reviews

An Alisa Review: Safe Haven by Caitlin Ricci

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

safe-haven-by-caitlin-ricciBeing alone was what Blake had always needed before his new team of bodyguards arrived. Now things might be very different.

 

At seven years old, Blake’s life was destroyed when he and his parents were abducted and he watched them being murdered. Now, twenty years later, he refuses to leave the house and he lives in a constant state of fear. He has a bodyguard around the clock, a housekeeper who has never seen his face and an uncle who checks on him often but isn’t all that close to him. Blake likes his isolation where only his cat really knows him.

 

His bodyguard of eight years is ready to retire, leaving his life in turmoil again. Blake isn’t good with people in general, and new people are the worst. But he needs someone in his house all the time to make him feel safe. His uncle hires a team of bodyguards to replace his old one—Malcolm, CJ and Rex. They come highly recommended, and they’re good at what they do.

 

They’re also together and it’s a relationship that Blake is instantly fascinated by. He’s never been interested in another person before, and he hasn’t had a real friend since his parents died, because he has refused to leave the house. But with the three of them trying to be there for him, he begins to want a life he has been convinced up to now would be completely impossible.

 

I really enjoyed this book and I thought the ménage/multiple partner theme was well done.  Is it a very realistic situation?  No, but I don’t think that is a necessity to make a good or interesting book.  Blake hasn’t had anyone show any affection or really care for him since his parents were murdered.  He makes a point to keep everyone at arm’s length, but no one really tries to get any closer either.  All that changes when his new bodyguards come to live in his house.

 

Malcolm, CJ and Rex can’t help but be protective of their new charge and even though they don’t know him very well want to take care of him and at least be his friends.  Their stubbornness starts to break through Blake’s walls just in time for his world to fall apart again.  Blake learns that support from those you love can be the best kind.

 

This story is told from Blake’s point of view.  He has pretty much been left alone and raised himself from the around the age of ten.  For someone who hasn’t had much human interaction he has grown up remarkably well, though if something is outside his comfort zone it can throw him for a big loop.  It is easy to feel how confused and scared Blake is at everything that goes on around him.  Once he starts to open himself up and the more he asks questions, the more he can start to accept changes.  Even though we don’t see Malcolm, CJ or Rex’s thoughts directly, you can see how much they care by their actions towards each other and Blake.  I love that their love and support ultimately help Blake begin to break down his barriers and get outside.

 

The cover art is great and catches your eye, it also gives you a visual of the characters.

 

Sales Links: Pride Publishing | Amazon

 

Book Details:

ebook, 151 pages

Published: November 8, 2016 by Pride Publishing

ISBN: 9781786514790

Edition Language: English

A VVivacious Review: Before Lovers by Wayne Mansfield

Rating: 3.75 Stars out of 5
 

before-loversCalvin is convinced that he has met Paul before and for the first time in his life he seems to be attracted to a man. As Paul and Calvin start to explore this rather unusual occurrence they discover a genuine love for each other. 

 
But everything isn’t right, because every time Paul and Calvin have sex Paul seems to get flashbacks that feel vividly like memories.
 
This story is a paranormal romance. I liked the story’s plot and it was a quick and interesting read.
 
The best part of this book was its plot, how Calvin and Paul meet and how their relationship develops, and gets complicated by these flashbacks that Paul has, and how they resolve the issue is very interesting. The plot of this book while simple was also very intriguing and it made for a good read.
 
I liked the characters in this book especially Linda and Rick. Linda is a hopelessly pessimistic person but her dry take on the world was actually quite amusing and entertaining meanwhile Rick is a big brawny man who loves to cross dress. In fact Linda and Rick while not the focus of this story left quite an impression with their unique personalities. Paradoxically at the end of this story I feel that I had a better grasp on Linda and Rick then Calvin and Paul, even though Paul is the narrator of this story.
 
In regards to Calvin I think that there were a lot of things that we could have explored about his character that we didn’t probably because the book was from Paul’s POV and there were way weirder things happening to Paul. But I would have loved to know his opinion on this newly discovered aspect of his sexuality and how it was affected by the revelations in the end.
 
What I didn’t like about this book was its lack of detail to the extent that I was actually making up my own sentences in between transitions. This is especially true in the beginning of the book. Towards the end this is less obvious but this lack of detail made for some stilted transitions.
 
Also the scene which settles the conflict of this book could have done with better descriptions. I feel like the scene is good as it is but could have been better and more impactful if it was written from another perspective because right now even though it is written from Paul’s perspective it seems to be written solely for the benefit of a third party and is narrated completely devoid of any emotions on Paul’s part. On the whole if the author still wanted to keep the tone of the scene as it is it would have been better if a third person like Calvin was describing it so that we could better understand the implications of this scene.
 
Overall this book is a light, quirky and quick read that is very enjoyable and interesting.
 
Cover Art by Written Ink Designs. I like the cover with its bright and vibrant colours.
Sales Links
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Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 66 pages
Published October 15th 2016
ASINB01LYNEO21
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Stella Review: Full Circle (Second Chances #2) by T.A. Webb

RATING 4,5 out of 5 stars

full-circle-by-ta-webbThe funny thing about circles is that, to draw one, the curve must go down before it can go up again.

Robbie Jennings knows all about ups and downs. Used and abused as a teen by those he should have been able to trust, he almost gave up on life. Then someone stepped in to offer him a second chance. Robbie took the lifeline and ended up with a new family who wanted him…and a boyfriend who loved him.

Nevertheless, Robbie knows the downs can make a man crash. Faced with the perfect storm of woe—a painful voice from the past, a loved one’s grave illness, and a heartrending betrayal—Robbie’s not sure he can close the circle one more time.

His new family must join forces to show him that, together, they can always come Full Circle.

I have to admit I was super excited to read Full Circle by TA Webb. Second Chances, the first book in the series, is one of my all time favorite MM stories. I lost the count how many times I read it, and cried, and been happy with Mark. I fell in love with Antonio and hurt so much with Brian. I connected with all the amazing characters the author let me met.

Four years later I finally have Full Circle on my hands,  you can imagine my joy but at the same time I was a little anxious. Will Robbie’s story be good as Second Chances?

The book starts in the 2010 when Robbie is been adopted by Mark’s dad and he is now officially a Jenning. Finally he has found someone who truly wants him, he is deeply and forceful wanted by a great family who request nothing in change. The Jennings gave Robbie the love of a family, the protection of a home he never had. And then there’s Jason.

Robbie has been in love with Jason, Antonio’s son, since the first time they met when Robbie was only 14 years old and has joined Mark and Brian during a picnic. Robbie is still feeling dirty and bad from when he was a whore and a drug addict, but he is working on himself and his relationship with the young Jason seems to start going somewhere, when Robbie’s biological father, the one who did unspeakable things and  is now in prison, began to threaten him and his sister.

Full Circle is a choral story. The second characters are a lot and have huge roles, important as the MCs’ ones. It is darker than Second Chances as I was expecting it to be since from that little we learnt in book one, Robbie life hasn’t been easy and light at all.

I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure if Full Circle is good as the first one but the author still managed to make me weep more than once, and the ending was very very good.

There is a central part where things happen and we got everyone POV and the Jennings are a lot. It can sound confusing, instead I want to thank the author for them, in that moment I’m not sure I could have taken Robbie’s POV, it would have been too much for me. Plus it was a great chance to know better these awesome characters, some more than others, and to love them a little more.

The only reason I’m not giving Full Circle the full 5 stars is Jason, I couldn’t fully connect with him, maybe because his character was overwhelmed by others, maybe I felt him to be too young and not so mature as Robbie.

Anyway I want to highly recommend this series, but don’t jump now into Full Circle if you  haven’t read Second Chances yet, you would miss too much to really enjoy the story and the people who made it great.

The cover art by  Author.Services is not exactly what I was expecting but of course it/he is stunning.

Sales Link

7104e-waxcreative-amazon-kindle

BOOK DETAILS:

Kindle Edition, 191 pages
Published October 12th 2016 by A Bear on Books
ISBN 9781941841
Edition Language English

Second Chances Series

  • Second Chances #1
  • Full Circle #2

In the Spotlight: Take Me Home (Belladonna Ink #2) by Lorelie Brown (giveaway)

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Take Me Home (Belladonna Ink #2) by Lorelie Brown
Riptide Publishing
Cover Art by L.C. Chase
Read an Excerpt/Buy it Here

About Take Me Home

Thanksgiving arrives in one week and one day. Feeling hemmed in by parental expectations? Are they disappointed by your sapphic proclivities? I can help! The only pay I want is the holiday meal!

I didn’t know what I was looking for until I saw her Craigslist ad.

I love my family. I’m lucky to have them—well, most of them. But my aunt? I’m so tired of her giving my mom crap because I happen to be a lesbian. So one pink-haired tattoo artist pretending to be my girlfriend will annoy my Christian fundamentalist aunt right back and make my Thanksgiving perfect.

Only . . . Brooke turns out to be cuter and more complicated than I expected. And before you can say “yorkiepoo,” we kiss . . . and abduct a dog together. I want to keep them both—but Brooke isn’t the kind to be kept. Lucky for me, I’m the kind to chase what I want.

This title is part of the Belladonna Ink universe.

About Lorelie Brown

After a seminomadic childhood throughout California, Lorelie Brown spent high school in Orange County before joining the US Army. After traveling the world from South Korea to Italy, she now lives north of Chicago. She writes her Pacific Blue series of hot surfers in order to channel some warmth.

Lorelie has three active sons, two yappy dogs, and a cat who cusses her out on a regular basis for not petting him enough.

In her immense free time (hah!) Lorelie cowrites award-winning contemporary erotic romance under the name Katie Porter. You can find out more about the Vegas Top Guns and Command Force Alpha series at www.KatiePorterBooks.com or at @MsKatiePorter. You can also contact Lorelie on Twitter @LorelieBrown.

Connect with Lorelie:

Website: loreliebrown.com/
Twitter: @LorelieBrown
Facebook: facebook.com/lorelie.brow

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Take Me Home, one lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to an ebook retailer of your choice! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on November 12, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

J.K. Pendragon Talks Editing, Writing Guides, and J.K.’s latest release ‘Junior Hero Blues’ (guest post and giveway)

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Junior Hero Blues by J.K. Pendragon
Riptide Publishing

Cover by: Michelle Fairbanks

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have J.K. Pendragon here today to talk about editing their latest release Junior Hero Blues. Welcome, J.K.

~

Editing Junior Hero Blues – Before and After

by J.K. Pendragon

Today I want to talk about editing. I was lucky to have a fantastic set of editors for Junior Hero Blues, and the experience was really rewarding. I felt like I was really able to tighten up and improve the book without losing the quirky narrative style, which was something I was worried about.

One of the biggest changes made was an aspect of Riptide’s style guide which says that dialogue tags should be replaced with action tags whenever possible. Here’s an example of the before and after:

Before editing:

“It’s beautiful,” I said, leaning forward and unbuckling my seatbelt. “I think I can see my apartment.”

“My house is over there too,” said Rick. “I never could figure out which one it was though.”

I leaned on the dashboard, standing up a little to see farther. I could feel Rick’s eyes on me as I bent forward, and I almost blushed. I sort of liked it though. I looked over at him and grinned, and he blushed instead.

“Uh.” He looked uncomfortable. “Sorry.”

I sat back. “For what?”

“Nothing.” Rick didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. He rubbed them together, patted the steering wheel, touched the back of his neck. “I mean, I’m just glad you agreed to come up here with me.”

I fought the urge to hunch forward again. “Do you… actually like me?” I asked.

Rick looked confused. “Of course! Why would I ask you out if I didn’t.”

“It’s just,” I gestured at myself. “I know I’m not like, much of a catch.”

“I think you’re gorgeous.” The way he said it, all serious and passionate sent a shiver down my spine. He was still blushing a little, his neck and face tinged pink. “Really, I even like your glasses and your big sweaters and everything. And I like how you are.” He seemed like he was having trouble expressing himself a bit, but he charged on. “Everyone else is so preoccupied with school, it’s like it’s the only thing about them. But you seem like… like more. Like you’re ready for things to get better, instead of trying to hold on to something that isn’t that great anyway… ” He grimaced and turned his head away. “Sorry, I guess that’s all kind of presumptuous.”

“It’s true though,” I said. “No one’s ever said it like that before, but you’re right. Things will get better. I’ll make them better.”

After editing:

“It’s beautiful.” I unbuckled my seat belt to see better. “I think I can see my apartment.”

“My house is over there too,” said Rick. “I never could figure out which one it was though.”

I leaned on the dashboard, moving forward to see farther. I could feel Rick’s eyes on me as I bent forward, and I almost blushed. I sort of liked it, though. I glanced over at him and grinned, causing him to blush instead.

“Uh.” He looked uncomfortable. “Sorry.”

I sat back. “For what?”

“Nothing.” Rick didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. He rubbed them together, patted the steering wheel, touched the back of his neck. “I mean, I’m just glad you agreed to come up here with me.”

I fought the urge to hunch forward again. “Do you . . . actually like me?”

“What? Of course! Why would I ask you out if I didn’t?”

“It’s just”—I gestured at myself—“I know I’m not, like, much of a catch.”

“I think you’re gorgeous.” The way he said it, all serious and passionate, sent a shiver down my spine. He was still blushing a little, his neck and face tinged pink. “Really, I even like your glasses and your big sweaters and everything. And I like how you are.”

He seemed to be having trouble expressing himself a bit, but he charged on. “Everyone else is so preoccupied with school, it’s like it’s the only thing about them. But you seem like . . . like more. Like you’re ready for things to get better, instead of trying to hold on to something that isn’t that great anyway . . .” He grimaced and turned his head away. “Sorry, I guess that’s all kind of presumptuous.”

I didn’t think it was presumptuous at all. He’d described me better than I’d ever been able to describe myself. Plus, he thought I was gorgeous? It was lucky I didn’t explode from ego right there. “It’s true though. No one’s ever said it like that before, but you’re right. Things will get better. I’ll make them better.”

So as you can see, there’s not a huge amount of difference, but the differences that are there are important. One particular issue I had was using a dialogue tag followed by an action.  For instance:

“It’s beautiful,” I said, leaning forward and unbuckling my seatbelt.

can easily become:

“It’s beautiful.” I unbuckled my seat belt to see better.

You don’t lose any of the meaning, and the whole thing is tightened up for easier reading. In the case of the last paragraph it’s even better, because when I went to replace the “I said” tag, I ended up having an opportunity to give more insight into the main character’s thoughts, which is always a good thing.

I ended up really liking this style guide rule, and I learned a lot from it. When I’m writing now, I always think “do I need a dialogue tag here, or can the action just serve as the tag?” and I think that’s really streamlined my writing.

Obviously said isn’t dead, and it’s almost always better to just use “said” than an elaborate dialogue tag like “uttered” or “ejaculated.” But there’s also the option of just cutting the dialogue tag entirely, which is something I’ve found super useful, and maybe you will too!

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to leave a comment with your name and email address for a chance to win one of three $15 Amazon gift cards! Bye!

Business Superhero with city

About Junior Hero Blues

Last year, Javier Medina was your average socially awkward gay high schooler with a chip on his shoulder. This year, he’s . . . well, pretty much the same, but with bonus superpowers, a costume with an ab window to show off his new goods, and a secret identity as the high-flying, wise-cracking superhero Blue Spark.

But being a Junior Hero means that Javier gets all the responsibility and none of the cool gadgets. It’s hard enough working for the Legion of Liberty and fighting against the evil Organization, all while trying to keep on top of schoolwork and suspicious parents. Add in a hunky boyfriend who’s way out of Javier’s league, and an even hunkier villain who keeps appearing every time said boyfriend mysteriously disappears, and Blue Spark is in for one big dollop of teenage angst. All while engaging in some epic superhero action and, oh yeah, an all-out battle to protect Liberty City from the forces of evil.

Welcome to the 100% true and totally unbiased account of life as a teenage superhero.

About J.K. Pendragon

J.K. Pendragon is a Canadian author with a love of all things romantic and fantastical. They first came to the queer-fiction community through m/m romance, but soon began to branch off into writing other queer fiction. As a bisexual and genderqueer person, J.K. is dedicated to producing diverse, entertaining fiction that showcases characters across the rainbow spectrum, and provides queer characters with the happy endings they are so often denied.

After writing in the romance community for several years, Junior Hero Blues is J.K.’s first book for young adults. Having been very positively affected by the queer books they came across as a teen, J.K. hopes their young adult books can have a similar effect on teens who may have a harder time finding books about people like themselves.

Notable works by J.K. Pendragon include Ink & Flowers, a contemporary romance novel with coming out themes, and To Summon Nightmares, a horror-fantasy that follows the journey of a young trans man into a world of magic and danger. To Summon Nightmares is the winner of the 2015 Rainbow Awards’ Best Transgender Fiction award. J.K. also contributed to Less Than Three Press’s Geek Out: A Collection of Trans and Genderqueer Romance.

J.K. currently resides in British Columbia, Canada, with a boyfriend, a cat, and a large collection of artisanal teas that they really need to get around to drinking. They are always happy to chat, and can be reached at jes.k.pendragon@gmail.com and on twitter @JKPendragon.

Connect with J.K.:

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Junior Hero Blues, three lucky winners will receive $15 Amazon gift cards! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on November 12, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!